This is a review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the Truthear GATE IEM. Money was kindly donated for me to purchase it from Amazon for US $17.59.
Not much to say about them other than they fit my ears very comfortably with the largest silicone tips included. Let's see how it performs.
If you are not familiar with my headphone measurements, I highly recommend to watch my tutorial on it:
[And subscribe to the channel
]
Truthear GATE IEM Measurements
As usual, we start with our IEM frequency response measurement:
I was pleasantly surprised by both the compliance to our target and how smooth the response is! Yes, there is a tiny bit of shortfall in bass and upper treble but that easily lands in the preference variability. But we will listen and quantify it later in this review.
Deviation from target is naturally very small:
The second surprised was however yet to come in the form of distortion measurements, or should I say lack thereof:
Are you seeing what I am seeing? This IEM is basically distortionless even up to 104 dBSPL! Even when pushed to 114 dBSPL, it barely winces.
Group delay tends to be clean in IEMs but not this clean:
Impedance is low as it typically is in this class:
Combine that with better than average sensitivity and you get an easy to drive IEM:
Truthear GATE IEM Listening Tests and Equalization:
First impression was jaw droopingly clean! I have a recent reference track that I have been using to test the last few headphones and IEMs this week. I had not heard it remotely this clean. The proverbial, "oh, I had not heard that note before" occurred and with ease! Still, question remained as to fine tuning per our target:
I fine tuned the treble response as with some tracks it was a bit bright. The bass shelving was desirable and brought out level of impact in low frequencies that was uncanny for an IEM. Without EQ, the tonality is still excellent, albeit, a bit less exciting than with EQ. If some of you dislike the hyper realism our target brings, then you can be fine without EQ.
I have to tell you, I did not want to stop and take out the IEMs to take the review picture. The GATE is that good! I mean even spatial effects were created that I don't usually associate with IEMs. Maybe I have forgotten how good some of our other reference IEMs sound. But I can assure you that what the GATE delivers as far as fidelity in at the top of the class.
Conclusions
Do I need to tell you? We have certifiable reference quality IEM here when it comes both to tonality and distortion. It is also comfortable. The kicker is that it costs next to nothing at $17. This is the definition of audio perfection if there ever was one.
It is my absolute pleasure to recommend the Truthear Gate. For once, the name of the company matches what it delivers!
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Not much to say about them other than they fit my ears very comfortably with the largest silicone tips included. Let's see how it performs.
If you are not familiar with my headphone measurements, I highly recommend to watch my tutorial on it:
[And subscribe to the channel
]Truthear GATE IEM Measurements
As usual, we start with our IEM frequency response measurement:
I was pleasantly surprised by both the compliance to our target and how smooth the response is! Yes, there is a tiny bit of shortfall in bass and upper treble but that easily lands in the preference variability. But we will listen and quantify it later in this review.
Deviation from target is naturally very small:
The second surprised was however yet to come in the form of distortion measurements, or should I say lack thereof:
Are you seeing what I am seeing? This IEM is basically distortionless even up to 104 dBSPL! Even when pushed to 114 dBSPL, it barely winces.
Group delay tends to be clean in IEMs but not this clean:
Impedance is low as it typically is in this class:
Combine that with better than average sensitivity and you get an easy to drive IEM:
Truthear GATE IEM Listening Tests and Equalization:
First impression was jaw droopingly clean! I have a recent reference track that I have been using to test the last few headphones and IEMs this week. I had not heard it remotely this clean. The proverbial, "oh, I had not heard that note before" occurred and with ease!
Still, question remained as to fine tuning per our target:I fine tuned the treble response as with some tracks it was a bit bright. The bass shelving was desirable and brought out level of impact in low frequencies that was uncanny for an IEM. Without EQ, the tonality is still excellent, albeit, a bit less exciting than with EQ. If some of you dislike the hyper realism our target brings, then you can be fine without EQ.
I have to tell you, I did not want to stop and take out the IEMs to take the review picture. The GATE is that good! I mean even spatial effects were created that I don't usually associate with IEMs. Maybe I have forgotten how good some of our other reference IEMs sound. But I can assure you that what the GATE delivers as far as fidelity in at the top of the class.
Conclusions
Do I need to tell you? We have certifiable reference quality IEM here when it comes both to tonality and distortion. It is also comfortable. The kicker is that it costs next to nothing at $17. This is the definition of audio perfection if there ever was one.
It is my absolute pleasure to recommend the Truthear Gate. For once, the name of the company matches what it delivers!
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
